1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to polycarbosilane and a method of producing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, polycarbosilane (PCS) is a pre-ceramic precursor that is widely used as SiC coating, SiC powder, a precursor for SiC combination materials, a sintering additive for SiC powder, or a precursor for producing SiC-based continuous fiber, to improve oxidation resistance, drug resistance and heat resistance.
While polycarbosilane is generally prepared from polydimethylsilane (PDMS) as an initial material by the Yajima method which is performed over about 400° C. at high pressure (U.S. Pat. No. 4,052,430), various methods of producing polycarbosilane using various catalysts are being developed.
Since such polycarbosilane is generally cured by heat in air at 200° C. or more after coating, when it is converted into siliconcarbide (SiC) by heat treatment at high temperature, the content of oxygen is increased, resulting in degradation of final quality.
Meanwhile, to reduce the content of oxygen in the final product, electron beam curing is performed. In this case, the high cost of an electron beam application device increases production costs.